Reason First: Who Punches a Cop in the Face and Runs?

The life you save may be your own if you want your life. Surprisingly, a Pennsylvania man tested the men in police uniforms by taunting and running away from them. While (of course) the footage failed to convey the beginning of the incident, it is a relief that this scene did not end with gunshots between the alleged perpetrator or the cops. In the video, the man is seen “squaring up” with cops after the policeman allegedly cold-cocked the man in the face. Supposedly, the man received the taser treatment. From Eric Garner to Tamir Rice to Michael Brown to Freddie Gray and so many others, the black man seems to be a target in the United States. However, if it is true that the unidentified man, black, white, red, brown, or yellow should have met the cold hand of justice from the start with an arrest.

The raw footage shows the glaring disparity between the citizens on patrol (COP) and the general populace. The folks providing unofficial commentary are on the side of the alleged puncher of the police officer. But the man looked like he was in a relay race as he zoomed by a crowd and out into the streets. That he was not gunned down should show that not every cop is a trigger-happy maniac even if it was warranted. Could it be because there existed so many witnesses to the occasion? There is a toxic relationship between cops and the individuals that make up the United States and certain sectors of the world. Respect levels ought to be much higher so that these incidents don’t pop up on viral video clips on the Internet. The man seems to have no regard for the long arm of the law. And the spectators (or witnesses?) looked on like baseball fans observing a game. The entertainment value of all of the clip shows just how realistic the sick playfulness that exists in the country is. More often than not, the whole nation wants to have a good time. To walk down the street in a different neighborhood at night, to take a toy cap gun and use it as play, and to sell cigarettes on the street without fear are only what Americans (especially black men) wish to do.

Such lightness and grace of being seems to never last too long. The way out of these situations is to comply or die. Oddly, the man broke this rule and still apparently left with his life. Now, the shift may occur in the climate of the men of color in this country. If, in fact, the man did punch the officer, this should send the message to other cities and states that police should be able to subdue unruly people.

All of the people just gawking at the man going through an alleged psychiatric episode could have witnessed a suicide by police officer if the cops had lost their nerve. Coolness led to this man to run up the street like a Klan horse galloping through a valley. Facts from the video show that the altercation allowed the man to apparently be a super n––r. He may have punched a police officer and ran away without taking a round. Only ultra-heroes can do what this man did. He escaped (for the moment) with breath in his lungs, not by the unknown and unknowable, nor by society. It is because of his ability to understand that with good fortune, he allegedly evaded the law (for a while).

What law enforcement should do is continue to explore different and radical nonlethal methods to professionally contain a suspect. It should be a prime idea for cops to use these tactics to preserve life and order and allow people to be brought to the law courts for their alleged crimes. By the video’s end, it appeared that the man had ran right into a police cruiser. The law just might have been served that day.